RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and minted as Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
We launched the VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once available.
All 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters hand drawn by Cleopunktra and minted on OpenSea.
The RomanPunk WAX NFT Trading Card Fighter Pack Series II consists of 3 NFTs randomly selected from over 236 characters.
Upcoming plans for RomanPunks include:
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born 89 AD in Rome, Oppius was a member of the Punktorian Guard sent through an interdimensional portal on a reconnaissance mission by Emperor Hadrian; however, Oppius preferred the alternate 28th century AD reality and never attempted to return.
Born in 168 BC in Myra, Cagla is a brainwashed soldier subservient to the alien and cyborg invaders who established a secret foothold in Lycia during they heyday of the Roman Republic.
Born 217 BC, Arsak is a clone of the Parthian king, Arsaces I, who wished to preserve his legacy; the cloning procedure, however, produced a mindless killer who they banished through an interdimensional portal to an unknown place and time.
Born 114 BC in Yeha, Betty joined Spartacus in the Third Servile War in search of her younger brother, Mussa. Upon defeat by the Romans, rather than face crucifixion, Betty was sent by Crassus to fight as a gladiator in a futuristic cybercolosseum.
Born in 2169 AD in Syracusae, Zino was a logistics officer in Rome’s hellacious campaign against the Dacian vampire scourge. Now a pencil-necked attorney and accountant for the profligate Governor Mazar, Zino finds himself torn between helping his old comrades uncover the grisly murder of a cyborg pleasurebot and maintaining his precarious position in the baroque society of Neo-Carthage. The stakes are even higher as suspicions point towards his employer, forcing Zino to navigate a perilous path where loyalty and self-preservation are constantly at odds.
Born 49 AD in Virunum, Valentin is a common soldier and timid husband of Acca who lived in the shadow of his wife until she was killed defending Emperor Domitian from assassins; henceforth, Valentin vowed revenge on those responsible for her death.
Born in 179 AD in the province of Raetia, Luteus Duilius, a loyal soldier under the reign of Septimius Severus, was appointed as a guard of the dimensional portal at the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, tasked with arresting any inbound travelers on sight.
Born 2172 AD in Petra, Salim is an itinerant lounge lizard now anchored to the tiki bar at Neo-Carthage’s Atlanta Hotel after gambling away his life savings and falling into crippling debt with the Red Sands Syndicate. Manipulated by Zalika Malika to spy on the governor and his associates, his drunkenness and ineptitude soon render him a liability, forcing him to flee underground to escape both the syndicate and the governor’s wrath. Eventually, he stumbles into the hands of the rebels, who pity his sorry state but recognize how his blunders can create unforeseen opportunities.
Born 2169 AD in Saldae, Wulfric is a volatile, embittered veteran of the Dacian Vampire War where he lost an eye and both legs. His sharp wit and philosophical musings mask a deep-seated bitterness and mistrust of the system. Equipped with lousy, Empire-subsidized robotic prosthetics and suffering from severe battle fatigue, his pain is numbed by booze and drugs. Despite physical and emotional scars, Wulf becomes obsessively driven to seek justice for a murder his friend allegedly witnessed. Though his wife vehemently disapproves of his quest for vigilante justice, Wulf remains undeterred, using their suite at the Atlanta Hotel in Neo-Carthage as a base for his precarious operations.
Born 181 AD in Adrianople, Groucho is a stand-up comedian and estranged brother of Emperor Maximinus who travels interdimensionally to lampoon political leaders in the public forum, only to disappear through a portal before he can be arrested.
Born 211 BC in Gades, Quique was enslaved as a gladiator for rebelling against the governor. His massive size & popularity influenced scouts from 28th century AD to press Quique into service at a futuristic cybercolosseum.
Bruno and his brother Bostar, bastard sons of Hasdrubal Barca, were exiled to fight in the gladiator pits of Parthia. They were saved by brother Hannibal, who traveled through an interdimensional portal to rescue them from eternal servitude.
Born 55 BC in Chang’an, Kai Ren is the Qin Emperor’s first daughter and ancestral brain of the Xinhan Megacorp, a hegemonic power operated by an AI hive mind. Held hostage by time traffickers in 2411 AD Neo-Byzantium, she spends her time playing ancient CRPGs and denigrating her cyborg servant jailers.
Born 167 BC in Alexandria, Quintus is a gentleman swordfighter and duelist who travels across time and space to seek new combatants and triumph as the undisputed, interdimensional master of the blade.
Born in 2145 AD on the red planet Mars, Rathien is a hot-tempered, relentless enforcer for cloned Hannibal Barca’s rebellion in Neo-Carthage. Freed from hard space labour, he hides from facial recognition drones while executing sabotage and assassinations against the corrupt governor Mordax Mazar and his cronies. Known for his mercenary tactics and short temper, Rathien’s methods frequently cause problems, but his loyalty and determination make him an indispensable, albeit troublesome, asset to the cause.
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Registered in Ontario, Canada
